We first told you about the extended school day trend when Chicago was considering it last fall.  The push, intended to increase instructional time as part of educational reform, was thought of by many to be a good direction.

However recently, two separate studies cite lags in the initiative, including issues of expense, challenge and sustainability.

The first issue, expense, is pretty self-evident:  keeping schools open longer increases expenses.  Wages, salaries, utilities and other general overhead costs increase the longer each school day is in session. 

Secondly, lengthening the school day is challenging for administrators.  The pre-planning required to allocate the additional learning time is something many states have struggled with, according to one study.  Tacking extra time onto the day is not as simple as it sounds, as the additional time must be correctly and adequately allocated to the most effective lessons.

Sustainability is another issue that has been brought up on the topic:  Can schools, students and parents endure this change?  Less than half of states surveyed thought they could, according to research.  Stakeholders also need to keep in consideration the impact such a change has on students and parents as well.

To read more about the extended school day debate, you can find the rest of the article here.